Transmit device and method thereof, record/play device and method thereof as well as recording system and media

ABSTRACT

A transmit device and method, a record/play device and method, a record system as well as a media allowing selection of the ideal record media by the receiver. The EPG data generator of a transmit device generates an EPG (Electronic Program Guide) showing the scheduled transmission of the program to be broadcast. An editor generates supplemental information containing information indicating the program data quantity, adds the supplemental information to the EPG and a multiplexer transmits the EPG added with the supplemental information.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a transmit device and method, arecord/play device and method, record system as well as a media andrelates in particular to a transmit device and method, record/playdevice and method as well as a record system for transmitting the dataquantity for a program from the digital broadcast., detecting theavailable capacity of the record media on the receive side, comparingboth transmit data quantity and receive side available capacity andselecting the optimal record media for recording the data of thatprogram.

2. Background of the Invention

Digital satellite broadcasting has recently become capable of providingprograms on more than 100 channels. When the available channels becomethis numerous, selecting a desired channel becomes an inconvenient taskfor the viewer. Whereupon EPG (Electronic Program Guide) data istransmitted separately from the actual program information and theviewer can then select the desired channel based on the EPG.

In order for the viewer to be able to select the desired program fromamong the many available programs, the EPG data contains a tablecomprised of basic data such as broadcast station (channel) information,daily program broadcast information, program start time information andprogram length, etc. In addition to this information, information forthe respective program attribute information descriptors such as theprogram title information, detailed program information (plot) is alsosent. This transmitted information is acquired by the receiver and theEPG data corresponding to the data for a particular channel can bedisplayed on a monitor.

In contrast to analog broadcasts where the overall amount of data of thebroadcast program is determined in proportion to the program broadcasttime length in a fixed method, in digital broadcasts, the overall amountof program data is further determined by the proportion of transmissionbit rate to the program broadcast time length.

Accordingly, in digital broadcasts it is difficult to know beforehandhow much available record media will be required in order to receive theprogram. Consequently, selecting the optimal record media to record theprogram data is difficult.

In view of the above situation, this invention is intended to allow theprogram data quantity for the digital broadcast to be sent and theoptimal record media to be selected by the receiver based on thisprogram data quantity.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In consideration of the foregoing, it is therefore an object of thepresent invention to provide a transmit device which resolves the abovementioned problem. Another object of the present is to provide atransmit method which resolves the above mentioned problem. A furtherobject of the present invention is to provide a transmission media whichresolves the above mentioned problem. A still further object of thepresent invention is to provide a record device which resolves the abovementioned problem. A yet further object of the present invention is toprovide a record method which resolves the above mentioned problem.Still another object of the present invention is to provide a recordmedia which resolves the above mentioned problem. Yet another object ofthe present invention is to provide a recording system which resolvesthe above mentioned problem. Other and further objects, features andadvantages of the invention will appear more fully from the subsequentdescription.

The object of the present invention to provide a record device includesEPG data generation means, supplemental means, and transmission means.The EPG data generation means is for generating EPG data. Thesupplemental means is for generating supplemental information includinginformation indicating the program data quantity and add thisinformation to the EPG data. The transmission means multiplexes theprogram data and the EPG data added with supplemental information andtransmits this multiplexed information as a digital signal.

The object of the present invention to provide a transmit methodcontains a generation step, a supplement step and a transmit step. Thegeneration step generates EPG data. The supplement step generatessupplemental information indicating the program data quantity and addsthis information to the EPG data. The transmit step multiplexes theprogram data and the EPG data to which the supplemental information wasadded and transmits this multiplexed information as a digital signal.

The object of the present invention to provide a record device containsreceive means and control means. The receive means is for receiving theprogram data transmitted as a digital signal and receiving the EPG datato which supplemental information was added containing informationindicating the program data quantity. The control means extracts thesupplemental information from the EPG data and based on the supplementalinformation and the capacity of the record media, controls the selectionof the record media for recording the program data.

The object of the present invention to provide a record method containsa receive step, an extraction step, and a selection step. The receivestep receives the program data transmitted as a digital signal andreceives the EPG data to which the supplemental information was addedcontaining information indicating the program data quantity. Theextraction step extracts the supplemental information from the EPG data.The selection step selects the record media for recording the programdata based on the capacity of the record media.

The object of the present invention to provide a recording systemcontains a transmit device and a record device. The transmit devicecontains EPG data generation means, supplemental means and transmitmeans. The EPG data generation means generates the EPG data. Thesupplemental means generates supplemental information includinginformation indicating the program data quantity and adds thissupplemental information to the EPG data. The transmit means multiplexesthe program data and the EPG data to which the supplemental informationwas added and transmits this multiplexed information as a digitalsignal. The record device contains receive means and control means. Thereceive means receives the program data and the EPG data. The controlmeans extracts the supplemental information from the EPG data andcontrols the selection of the record media for recording the programdata based on the supplemental information and the capacity of therecord media.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the transmitdevice adapted for this invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the receivedevice adapted for this invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the record/playdevice adapted for this invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the recordcontroller 91 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a drawing showing the remote controller 61 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart describing the record reserve process for thecontrol CPU 108.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart continuing from FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a drawings displaying the flow of screen images for the recordreserve process shown on the monitor 62.

FIG. 9 shows other screen images of the process flow continuing fromFIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is a drawing showing sample library data.

FIG. 11 is a drawing showing typical record media category settings.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart describing another record reserve process for thecontrol CPU 108.

FIG. 13 are images of another display flow of record reserve imagesdisplayed on the monitor 62.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing another configuration of therecord/play device adapted for this invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Hereafter, an embodiment of this invention is described while referringto the accompanying drawings. A block diagram showing the configurationof transmit device comprising the transmit/receive system of thisinvention is shown in FIG. 1. The program data to be broadcast,including audio data and video data is generated in a program editor 11.A main system processor 12 supplies the program data received from theprogram editor 11 to an encoder 13 and also generates and referenceblocks and time information to a system information processor 15, anoperation system processor 16, an EPG system processor 17 and amultiplexer 14, etc. The program data supplied from the program editor11 by way of the main system processor 12 is encoded in a format such asMPEG format and output to the multiprocessor 14.

The system information processor 15 generates the system information andcontrols the multiplexing operation in the multiplexer 14. The operationsystem processor 16 processes the operator input signals from thekeyboard and mouse (not shown in drawing) and sends an, output to themain processor when necessary.

The EPG generator 18 generates the EPG data and outputs this data to aneditor 19. The editor 19 adds data quantity information showing the dataquantity of that program to the EPG data. The EPG system processor 17synchronizes with the signal supplied from the main system processor 12,processes EPG data supplied from the editor 19 and outputs this data tothe multiprocessor 14. The multiprocessor 14 synthesizes the EPG datasupplied from the EPG system processor 17 with the program data suppliedfrom the encoder 13 and outputs the synthesized data to a satellite (notshown in the drawing) as a transport stream.

FIG. 2 shows a sample configuration of the receive device for receivingthe data transmitted by way of the satellite from a receiver 1 shown inFIG. 1. The receive device 31 receives by way of a tuner 41, the RFcarrier transmitted by the satellite and outputs the received signal toa demodulator 42. This demodulator 42 demodulates the signal suppliedfrom the tuner 41 and outputs the demodulated signal to a demultiplexer43. The demultiplexer 43 besides extracting the audio and video datacomprising the program data from the data input from the demodulator 42,also extracts the EPG data. The demultiplexer 43 respectively suppliesthe audio data to an audio decoder 46, the video data to a video decode45 and the EPG data to the control CPU44. The demultiplexer 43 alsosupplies stream data containing video data, audio data and EPG data,along with identification data for discriminating the audio data and thevideo data to a record device 71 which is connected to the demultiplexer43.

An audio decoder 46 decodes the audio data that was input and outputsthe decoded audio for instance to a VCR (video cassette recorder) 63 ora monitor 62 connected to the receive device 31. A video decoder 45decodes the video data and output the decoded video to a displayprocessor 47.

An OSD (On Screen Display) controller 48 is controlled by means of thecontrol CPU44, OSD (On Screen Display) data is created to make redundantvideo data and output to the display processor 47. Operating under thecontrol of the display processor 47, the video data supplied by thevideo decoder 45 is synthesized as needed with the OSD data suppliedfrom the OSD controller 48 and output to the monitor 62.

An EPG data memory 50 stores in necessary amounts, the EPG data thecontrol CPU44 has received from the demultiplexer 43. A program memory51 stores the programs required to run the various types of processingof the control CPU44. A work memory 52 stores as needed the programs anddata required for the control CPU44 to run the various processes. Anoperation unit 53 receives signals from the buttons and switches (notshown in drawing) installed on the chassis of the receive unit 31 orinput by infrared signal from the remote controller 53 (hereafter remotecontrol) and outputs these detected signals to the control CPU44.

A record device 71 records the stream data from the demultiplexer 43.

The configuration of the record device 71 is shown in FIG. 3. When arecord manager 91 receives the stream data, and identification data forthe audio data and stream data, the record manager 91 demultiplexes (orisolates) the video data, audio data and EPG data from the stream dataand also detects the data quantity information from the EPG data. Therecord manager 91 monitors the capacity of the record media 92-1 through92-N and library data containing this quantity information is storedinternally in a memory 113 (FIG. 4). The record manager 91 selects themost ideal record media for recording from among the record media 92-1through 92-n based on the library data and the data quantity informationand the results of the selection are externally output as needed to amonitor 62. The record manager 91 then records the video data and audiodata in the selected record media from among the record media 92-1through 92-n according to the inputs entered by the user based on themonitor display.

A block diagram of the manager 91 is shown in FIG. 4. A stream buffer101 receives the transport stream supplied from the demultiplexer 43 ofthe receive device 31, temporarily stores the transport stream and thenoutputs it to the bus controller 102 and the demultiplexer 103. The buscontroller 102, besides controlling the transmission of the varioussignal on the buses to which it has made connection, also supplies thedata input from the stream buffer 101 to the specified record media fromamong the record media 92-1 through 92-n as well as to the controllerCPU 108. The demultiplexer 103, besides extracting the audio data andthe video data from the data input from the stream buffer 101, alsoextracts the EPG data. The audio data and video data are supplied to avideo/audio buffer 104 and the EPG data to the SI (Service Information)buffer 111. After the video/audio buffer 104 under the control of thedecode CPU106 stores the video and audio data that was input, the videoand audio data is supplied to the video/audio decoder 105. TheVideo/audio decoder 105 decodes the video data that was supplied andsupplies the decoded data to a display processor 107.

Under the control of the control CPU 108, the display processor 107synthesizes the OSD data supplied from an OSD controller 109 with thevideo data that was supplied and outputs the data to an external monitor62 according to the signal supplied from the receive device 31 by way ofthe AV switch 110.

After the SI buffer 111 temporarily stores the EPG data supplied fromthe demultiplexer 4103, the SI buffer 111 then outputs the EPG data tothe control CPU 108. An EPG data memory 112 stores the EPG data thecontrol CPU 108 has received from the SI buffer 111. A library datamemory 113 stores required information by means of the record media 92-1through 92-n managed by the control CPU 108.

FIG. 5 is a drawing showing the functions of a remote control 61. Theremote controller 61 contains cursor keys 131-1 to 131-4 for moving thecursor keys up and down and left and right on the monitor screen, abutton 132 for displaying the EPG on the monitor screen, an OK button133 for making the respective settings, a button 134 for schedulingrecording of the program, a button 135 for playing back the recordeddata, a button 136 for deleting the recorded data, a button 137 formaking the program category settings related later, and a button 138 toperform the library display related later. When the user clicks one ofthese buttons, processing corresponding to that button are performed inthe record device 71.

The process for scheduling the recording of program data by means of thecontrol CPU 108 in the record manager 91 of the record device 71 is nextexplained while referring to the flowcharts in FIG. 6 and FIG. 7. Thisprocessing can also be executed on the OSD controller 109. The recordmedia 1-3 listed hereafter, indicate record media numbers set tocorrespond to the record media 92-1 through 92-N. First, in step S1, thecontrol CPU 108 is in standby until the “Record Schedule” button 134 onthe remote control 61 is clicked by the user. When the “Record Schedule”button 134 is clicked by the user, the control CPU 108 then receives therecord program command by way of the AV switch 110, and the processingproceeds to step S2. In step S2, the control CPU 108 loads the dataquantity for the program specified for recording from the EPG datamemory 112. Actually the exact same operation and effect can be obtainedif the user directly operates the button on an operating unit 53 havingthe same buttons as the remote control 61 and this approach is explainednext using the remote control 61 as the operating medium.

In step S3, the control CPU 108 decides if data expressing the overalldata capacity of the program (hereafter called overall data capacity) ispresent or not inside the program data that was loaded. If determinedthat the overall data capacity is present, the process proceeds to stepS4 where the control CPU 108 sets this overall data capacity as data Dtfor the program specified for recording in step S1.

However, if for instance the program is a live broadcast, then the EPGdata generator 18 of the transmit device 1 cannot beforehand accuratelydetermine a fixed quantity representing the overall data capacity of theprogram to transmit. In such a case, the EPG data generator 18 outputsan average bit rate to the encoder 13 during encoding, instead of theoverall data capacity of the program and supplies this average bit rateto the control CPU 108 by way of the receive device 31 from themultiplexer 14 via satellite, the stream buffer 101 and the buscontroller 102. Accordingly, when determined in step S4 that an overalldata capacity is not present inside the data of the program specifiedfor recording, the process proceeds to step S5 where the control CPU 108detects the average bit rate data for the program specified forrecording in step S1 and in step S6 decides whether or not average bitrate data is present.

When determined in step S6 that average bit rate data is present, theprocess proceeds to step S7, the control CPU 108 loads this average bitrate data Ra from the EPG data that was transmitted and further, in stepS8, loads the data length Lp for the program specified for recording instep S1. Still further, in step S9, calculates the sum of the datalength Lp and this average bit rate data Ra and sets the results of thiscalculation as the program data quantity Dt.

After completion of steps S4 and S9, the control CPU 108 detects in stepS10, the respective remaining storage capacity of the record media, 92-1through 92-N from the library data stored in the library data memory113. The control CPU 108 then determines in step S11 whether or not anoptimal record media is present. Restated, the control CPU 108determines whether or not the maximum capacity remaining in the recordmedia 92-1 through 92-N is a sufficient capacity to record the programdata of the program specified for recording.

In step S11, upon determining that an optimal record media is present,the process proceeds to step S12 where the control CPU 108 controls theOSD controller 109 and the information of this optical record media (inthis case, record media 2) is generated, and output to the monitor 62.The monitor 62 displays in image such as shown on the screen b of FIG.8, in the display space provided in the lower part of screen b of FIG. 8(EPG is shown on the left side).

When decided in step S11 that an optimal record media is not present,the process proceeds to step S13 and the OSD controller 109 under thecontrol of the control CPU 108, generates information indicating that anoptimal record media is not present and outputs this information to themonitor 62. The control CPU 108 displays au message such as in screen cof FIG. 8, on the display space provided on the lower part of the screena of FIG. 8 (EPG is displayed on left side) on the monitor 62 and standsby for a command from the user ordering deletion of the recordedprogram.

When a display such as on screen c of FIG. 8 appears, the user clicksthe cursor key 131-1 or the cursor key 131-4 on the remote control 61and moves the cursor left and right on the screen above “OK” or “CANCEL”and clears the screen by clicking the “OK” button 133. The user nextclicks the “Library display” button 138 on the remote control 61 andtransmits the command signal to the control CPU 108 by way of the AVswitch 110. The control CPU 108 controls the OSD controller 109according to the command from the user and displays a library data imageas shown in FIG. 10. At this point, the user clicks the cursor key 131-1or the cursor key 132-2 in order to assure recording space for theprogram data that is to be recorded by moving the cursor on the screento a program that can be deleted and clicking the “Delete” key button136. By deleting the selected program data in this way, a command signalcan be sent to the control CPU 108 by way of the AV switch 110.

In other words, the user selects program data that can be deleted in theavailable record program data consisting of program titles, record time,record day, data quantity and channel as shown in. FIG. 10. Restated,the user moves the cursor on the screen to a point with program datathat can be deleted (news A in the current case) by clicking the cursorkey 131-1 or the cursor key 131-2 and then clicking the “Delete|” button136 at that position.

Upon receiving a command from the user as in step S13 to delete a recordprogram, the process proceeds to step S14 and the control CPU 108deletes program data specified for deletion by the user from among theprogram data stored in the library data memory 113. As a result, in thelibrary data (corresponding to program data stored in the library datamemory 113), the available storage capacity will increase by 300 MBwhich is equal to the data quantity of the news A. In other words, an“Available recording capacity” of 1 GB (in this case, record media 2)corresponding to the “Record Media No.” is displayed. However, in the“Data quantity” for the record programs displayed on the lower part ofthe same figure, the capacities were respectively 300 MB, 150 MB and 450MB so that the original available capacity increased to 400 MB (1GB−(300 MB+150 MB+450 MB)=100 MB) after deleting the data describedabove. Thus for example, when a data quantity Dt was set as 200 MB instep S4 this deletion will allow recording space to be obtained for newprogram data. Further, The control CPU 108 next returns to step S10 andperforms the same processing repeatedly until (Yes is decided in stepS11) recording space is obtained for the next program data that the usercurrently wants to record. When the decision in step S11 is a YES, theprocess proceeds to step S12 and the subsequent processing is performed.

After completion of the processing in step S12, the operation proceedsto step S15 of the flowchart of FIG. 7 continuing from the flowchart ofFIG. 6, and the control CPU 108 stands by until a reply from the user isreceived in response to the screen image as shown on screen b of FIG. 8.The user here moves the cursor, up or down to the “YES” or the “NO”position on an image display as shown on screen b of FIG. 8 by clickingthe cursor key 131-1 or 131-2 and then clicking the “OK” button 133 forone of these positions. When the user has made a reply, the processproceeds to step S16 and the control CPU 108 decides from the “YES” or“NO” command received on the screen in response to the b screen of FIG.8.

The control CPU 108 proceeds to step S17 when a “YES” was received fromthe user in step S16, and the control CPU 108 then executes theprocessing to schedule (or reserve) the program data as; specified instep S1 per record media 2. The control CPU 108 next displays an imagesuch as on the screen d of FIG. 8 on the monitor 62 by controlling theOSD controller 109. The user clicks the cursor keys 131-3 or the cursorkey 131-4 of the remote control 61 to move the cursor left or right tothe “OK” or the “CANCEL” button in response to the display message shownon screen d of FIG. 8, and clicks the “OK” button which clears thescreen. By this action, the user thus confirms the end of the datascheduling of the program specified in step S1 in FIG. 6.

When the control CPU 108 determines that a “NO” command was receivedfrom the user, the process proceeds to step S18. Here, the control CPU108 controls the OSD controller 109 to display an image as shown inscreen e of FIG. 8 and stands by for a command from among the recordmedia 92-1 through 92-N from the user according to the screen display.The user then moves the cursor to another record media number (in thiscase record media 1) from among the record media 92-1 through 92-N ofthe program data specified in step S1 of FIG. 6 whose recording isdesired, by clicking the cursor keys 131-1 or 131-2 on an image such asshown in screen e of FIG. 8, and the user then clicks the “OK” button133 at that position.

When the user specifies another record media from among the record media92-1 through 92-N in step S18, the process then proceeds to step S19 andthe control CPU 108 determines whether or not there is availablecapacity in the record media (in this case, record media 1) re-specifiedby the user. When determined that there is available capacity in arecord media specified again by the user, the process proceeds to stepS17 and the control CPU 108 schedules the program data specified in stepS1 of FIG. 6 for the record media (in this case, record media 1)specified;in step S18.

More specifically, the OSD controller 109 under the control of thecontrol CPU 108 displays an image such as shown on the screen f of FIG.9. The user, in response to the screen f of FIG. 9, moves the cursor upor down to the “YES” or the “NO” position on an image display as shownon screen f of FIG. 9 by clicking the cursor key 131-1 or 131-2 and thenclicking the “OK” button 133 for one of these positions. If the userselects “NO”, then the control CPU 108 again displays an image shown aspreviously related for screen e of FIG. 8 and from hereon, the sameimage is repeatedly displayed.

When the user selects a “YES” from screen f in FIG. 9, the OSDcontroller 109 under the control of the control CPU 108 displays animage such as shown on screen h of FIG. 9. The user in response to theimage display on screen h of FIG. 9, clicks the cursor key 131-3 or thecursor key 131-4 of the remote control 61 to move the cursor right orleft to the “OK” or the “CANCEL” on the screen and then clicks the OKbutton 133 clearing the screen.

When the control CPU 108 determines in step S19 that there is notsufficient available capacity in the record media re-specified in stepS18, the process proceeds to step S20 and the OSD controller 109functions to display an image such as shown on screen g of FIG. 9 on themonitor 62. The user in response to the image display on screen g ofFIG. 9, clicks the cursor key 131-3 or the cursor key 131-4 of theremote control 61 to move the cursor right or left to the “OK” or the“CANCEL” on the screen and then clicks the OK button 133 clearing thescreen. Afterwards, the user just the same as for processing in responseto step S13 of FIG. 6, clicks the “Library display” button 138 todisplay library data for the record media (in this case, record media 1)specified in step S18.

Next, in order to obtain recording space on which to record the desiredprogram data, the user clicks the cursor key 131-1 or cursor key 131-2and further moving the cursor on to the program to be erased, the userthen clicks the “Delete” button 136. When the “Delete” button 136 isclicked, a command signal is transmitted by way of the AV switch 110, tothe control CPU 108 to select deletion of the program data.

When the control CPU 108 receives this command from the user, the sameprocessing as in step S14 of FIG. 6 is performed on the re-specifiedrecord media of step S18. Afterwards, the control CPU 108 returns to,step S19, and repeatedly performs the same processing until therecording space for the program data specified for recording in step S1of FIG. 6 is finally obtained (determined as a YES in step S19) insidethe re-specified record media in step S18. The control CPU 108 nextproceeds to step S17 when a YES is determined in step S19, and performsthe subsequent processing.

When determined in step S6 of FIG. 6 that there is no average bit rate,the process proceeds to step S22 and the control CPU 108 schedulesrecording in response to manual operation by the user on the optimalmedia from among the record media 92-1 through 92-N. In other words, theuser checks the record media 92-1 through 92-N one by one for availablecapacity and designates the optimal record media. After completion ofthe processing of step S22, the process proceeds to step S17 of FIG. 7and the control CPU 108 performs the subsequent processing.

After completion of the processing of step S17 in FIG. 7, the controlCPU 108 terminates all processing.

However, record program data quantity setting is performed in additionto making settings for the record program category transmitted by theEPG from the transmit side to the record media 92-1 through 92-N andbased on these category settings, the control CPU 108 is further ableselect an ideal record media. The embodiment is explained as follows.The transmit/receive system of this embodiment contains a transmitdevice 1, a receive device 31, a record device 71, a record manager 91as well as a remote control 61. These components were previouslydescribed so an explanation is omitted here.

The operation of the record manager 91 inside the record device 71 isexplained next. Library data such as shown in FIG. 10 stored in thelibrary data memory 113 of the record device 71, contains the respectiveitems “Record media No.” and “Category” respectively for the recordmedia 92-1 through 92-N. The user clicks the “Library display” button138 of the remote control 61 to display these “Record media No.” and“Category” items on the screen as shown in FIG. 11 and then operates thecursor keys 131-1 through 131-4 to move the cursor to the desiredsetting position and then clicks the “OK” button 133 to transmit acommand for a category setting. In response to this user operation, the“Record media No.” and “Category” items are both linked and registeredin the library data memory 113 under the control of the control CPU 108of the record device 71.

The record scheduling process for program data by means of the controlCPU 108 of the record manager 91 of record device 71 is next explainedwhile referring to the flowchart of FIG. 12 (This processing can also beexecuted on the OSD controller 109). The control CPU 108 performsprocessing identical, to that of steps S1 and S2 in FIG. 6. Afterwards,in step S43 the control CPU 108 loads the EPG data from the program dataspecified in step S41 and decides whether or not category data ispresent. When the control CPU 108 decides that category data is present,the process proceeds to step S44 and the control CPU 108 matches thiscategory data with the record media number of the record media.

The program specified in step S41 is scheduled for recording (dubbing)in the subsequently related step S58 so that this specified program isthus recorded in the record media 92-1 through 92-N corresponding tothat category during recording. The category data loaded (read out) instep S42 may be an item other than that stored in the library datamemory 113, but that possibility is disregarded in this flowchart. Ifindeed an item other than that stored in the library data memory 113 isread out (loaded) then the processing of the flowcharts of FIG. 6 andFIG. 7 in the previous embodiment is performed and the user may forinstance make manual settings in step S18 of FIG. 7 while referring toscreen e of FIG. 8.

In steps S45 through S51, the control CPU 108 executes the sameprocessing as in steps S5 through S11 in FIG. 6, for the program datathat was specified in step S41. In step S52, the control CPU 108searches according to the matching category of step S44, the recordmedia 92-1 through 92-N of the library data stored in the library datamemory 113 for remaining recording capacity for record media specifiedfor the program designated in step S41. Based on this remainingrecording capacity, the control CPU 108 determines in step S53 whetheror not an optimal record media is present for the program category fromamong the record media 92-1 through 92-N.

In other words, when the record media specified in step S44 from amongrecord media 92-1 through 92-N has sufficient capacity to record theprogram specified in step S41, the control CPU 108 determines that themedia specified in step S44 is the optimal record media. However, whenthe media specified in step S44 does not have sufficient availablerecord capacity, then the control CPU 108 determines that an optimalrecord media is not present.

In step S53, when the control CPU 108 determines that an optimal recordmedia is present, the process proceeds to step S54. Here, under controlof the OSD controller 109, information is generated to show an optimalrecord media (in this case, record media 2) is present, and output tothe monitor 62. The control CPU 108 causes an image as shown in screen bof FIG. 13 to be displayed in a display space provided in the lower partof screen a (The EPG is displayed on the left.) of FIG. 13.

In step S53, when the control CPU 108 determines that an optimal recordmedia is not present, the operation proceeds to step S55 and undercontrol of the OSD controller 109, information is generated indicatingthat an optimal record media is not present and output to the monitor62. The control CPU 108 causes an image as shown in screen c of FIG. 13to be displayed in a display space provided in the lower part of screena (The EPG is displayed on the left.) of FIG. 13. The control CPU 108then stands by just the same as in step S13 of FIG. 6, until a commandis received to delete the recorded program.

In step S55, upon receiving a command from a user to delete a recordedprogram, the control CPU 108 deletes program data specified for deletionfrom among program data stored in the library data memory 13 just asperformed in step S14 of FIG. 6. As a result, in the library data(corresponding to program data stored in the library data memory 113),the available storage capacity will increase by 300 MB which is equal tothe data quantity of the news A. In other words, an “Available recordingcapacity” of 1 GB (in this case, record media 2) corresponding to the“Record Media No.” is displayed. However, in the “Data quantity” foreach recorded program displayed in the lower part of the same figure,the capacities were respectively 300 MB, 150 MB and 450 MB so that theoriginal available capacity increased to 400 MB (1 GB−(300 MB+150 MB+450MB)=100 MB) after deleting the data as described above. Thus forexample, when a data quantity Dt was set as 200 MB in step S46, theabove described deletion will therefore allow recording space to beobtained for new program data. Further, the control CPU 108 next returnsto step S52 and performs the same processing repeatedly until (Yes isdecided in step S53) recording space is obtained for the next programdata the user currently wants to record.

In step S48 when the control CPU 108 determines that average bit ratedata is not present, the process proceeds to step S57 and the sameprocessing as in step 22 of FIG. 6 is executed.

After completion of the processing insteps S54 and S57, the processproceeds to step S58 and the control CPU 108 schedules recording(dubbing) of the program data specified in step S41 of FIG. 12, onto therecord media corresponding to the record media number (in this case,record media 2) specified in step S44. The OSD controller 109 thendisplays an image as shown in screen d of FIG. 13 on the monitor 62. Theuser then moves the cursor on the screen to the “OK” or the “CANCEL”position in response to the image displayed on screen d of FIG. 13 andclicks the “OK” button, clearing the screen. By clicking the “OK”button, the user confirms that scheduling of recording (dubbing) for theprogram data specified in step S41 of FIG. 12 is complete.

After completion of the processing of step S58, the control CPU 108terminates all processing.

Both of the two embodiments showed the record manager 91 connected tothe respective record media by means of an internal bus, however thisinvention may also use an arrangement such as shown in FIG. 14 in whichthe record manager 91 connects to the respective record media by meansof an IEEE1394 format bus 151 utilized as an external bus. In FIG. 14,except for the IEEE1394 format bus 151, the structure is identical toFIG. 3 so an explanation is omitted here.

In this invention, the media supplied to the user having, the computerprogram for executing the above described processing, besidesinformation recording media such as CD-ROM or magnetic disks may also bea transmission media operating by means of a network such the Internetor digital satellite, etc.

1-22. (canceled)
 23. A recording system comprising: generating means forgenerating EPG data; supplementing means for generating supplementalinformation containing information indicating the category of theprogram and adding this supplemental information to said EPG data;transmit means for multiplexing the program data with the EPG data addedwith said supplemental information and transmit this multiplexedinformation as a digital signal; receive means for receiving EPG dataand program data; control means for extracting said supplementalinformation including the category of the program from said EPG data,and to control selection of a recording media to record said programdata based on the category of the program; and memory means, coupled tothe control means, for storing program data required to execute theextraction by the control means.